A marker of biological ageing predicts adult risk preference in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris

Andrews, C., Nettle, D., Reichert, S., Bedford, T., Monaghan, P. and Bateson, M. (2018) A marker of biological ageing predicts adult risk preference in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris. Behavioral Ecology, 29(3), pp. 589-597. (doi: 10.1093/beheco/ary009)

Abstract

Why are some individuals more prone to gamble than others? Animals often show preferences between 2 foraging options with the same mean reward but different degrees of variability in the reward, and such risk preferences vary between individuals. Previous attempts to explain variation in risk preference have focused on energy budgets, but with limited empirical support. Here, we consider whether biological ageing, which affects mortality and residual reproductive value, predicts risk preference. We studied a cohort of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in which we had previously measured developmental erythrocyte telomere attrition, an established integrative biomarker of biological ageing. We measured the adult birds’ preferences when choosing between a fixed amount of food and a variable amount with an equal mean. After controlling for change in body weight during the experiment (a proxy for energy budget), we found that birds that had undergone greater developmental telomere attrition were more risk averse as adults than were those whose telomeres had shortened less as nestlings. Developmental telomere attrition was a better predictor of adult risk preference than either juvenile telomere length or early-life food supply and begging effort. Our longitudinal study thus demonstrates that biological ageing, as measured via developmental telomere attrition, is an important source of lasting differences in adult risk preferences.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grants BB/J016446/1 and BB/J016292/1) and European Research Council (AdG 666669).
• Keywords: Animal science and zoology, ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Monaghan, Professor Pat and Reichert, Dr Sophie
• Authors: Andrews, C., Nettle, D., Reichert, S., Bedford, T., Monaghan, P., and Bateson, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Behavioral Ecology
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• ISSN: 1045-2249
• ISSN (Online): 1465-7279
• Published Online: 24 February 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Behavioural Ecology 29(3):589-597
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons licence